The Lost Chronicles of Reno: Part II: Reno
by Blood-Smeared Shuriken
Summary: Reno x Rufus. Part two of three. Once again, swearing, violence, shonenainess and a possible lemon later on. Don't like? Don't read. Chapter six up. Reno and paperwork. xp
1. Prologue

The Lost Chronicles of Reno: Part II: Reno

_By Blood-Smeared Shuriken_

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Final Fantasy VII or anything really. That joy belongs to Square-Enix. Someday I will own a Reno plushie to hug, though. Squeeee!

Prologue

_Musing_

Rufus Shinra sat quietly at his desk, in his perfectly immaculate office, with his equally immaculate blonde hair neatly brushed, and his manicured hands clasped lightly on the table before him. His ice blue eyes were, as per usual, icy and incredible distant, as he thought about two things he normally didn't permit himself to. The first was how he was going to kill his father, who had ridiculed him in front of a group of executives, yet again. It had taken all his will power not to whip out a gun and shoot the bastard. The second was that it was another ten days before Reno would be finished with his training.

He sighed softly and stood up, moving restlessly around his office. Things had seemed strangely boring since the violent redhead had left - after all the chaos he'd caused during his short time at Shinra, the usual quiet of his office seemed stifling, almost as though the silent walls were closing in on him. He bit his lip just slightly, possibly the largest expression of discontent or worry his face had ever exhibited. There was a quiet rap on his door and he silently thanked all the gods he did not believe in for the interruption. He'd already done every bit of his work so he had nothing else to distract himself with.

"Enter," he said clearly, sitting down behind his desk again. Tseng walked in, holding a mobile phone against his ear. "Phone for you, sir," he said, offering it to Rufus. "The commander of the military base we sent Reno to."

Rufus took the phone with something approaching trepidation. He listened silently to the hard voice at the other end. His eyes went suddenly distant. "Understood. Has he already finished the bulk of his training?"

His eyebrows snapped down at the reply. "I did not request that you rant about _how_ he chose to train. I merely asked if he had completed enough training to be functional as one of my Turks." Tseng watched with interest as a myriad of emotions flitted across his employer's face before it all returned to the usual calm. Rufus angry… there was one he hadn't seen for a while - Rufus had learned how to hide his emotions a long time ago. There was another pause as Rufus listened intently, then he half smiled. "I'll come get him today… Oh, no, I don't mind. If he's causing _so_ much trouble, then of course he must be removed. A pleasure as always commander."

He took the phone away from his ear and hung up, flipping it closed and handing it back to Tseng. There was a moment of silence as Rufus just sat there, fighting a smile. Then he spoke, just quietly, "We have to go get Reno - apparently he's hospitalised one of the Drill Sergeants."

A/N: I'm back!! Admittedly, I wasn't gone for very long (a couple of days at the most) but here's the prologue of the second part of the Chronicles. With a bit of luck it'll be longer than the last one. Expect more violence, more Reno swearing, some actual Reno/Rufus action eventually, and hopefully more Reno kicking the shit out of Tseng cause I hate him. XD Oh, and there will be Rude at some stage. Reviews would be great.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_Never Again_

Reno sat quietly on a bench in the mess hall, his bag sitting on the ground beside him. His dark red hair was in its usual ponytail - through threats of violence and stolen scissors, as well as a pleading phone call to Shinra offices, he'd been able to avoid the usual military cut. His face had dark bruises all over it, presents from the Drill Sergeant he'd been assigned to. He sighed and dropped his head forward into his hands, which sent spears of pain through them too. Brilliant. His head hurt from the blows he'd received and his hands hurt from where he'd smashed them into the older man. His knuckles were completely spilt, but he hadn't been allowed any medical treatment due to the fact he'd gotten the injury while beating a superior officer to a pulp. The only bright light in his otherwise shitty day was the information that Rufus was coming to retrieve him. The downside of that little announcement was that Rufus was probably going to be very pissed off and even if he didn't mind having to come the whole way from Midgar, then he'd be furious when he stepped out of his transport and found himself knee deep in mud - it hadn't stopped raining at the training camp the entire length of Reno's stay. The ground was slushy and Reno hadn't seen the sky once during his entire stay. If Rufus got his pristine white clothes muddied, then he _would not_ be impressed.

"Reno?"

Reno's head shot up sharply, and he actually smiled at the sight of Tseng walking through the mess towards him. Soldiers and recruits looked up at the dark haired man, flinching as he moved past, fear in their every move. Turks were… dangerous. Definitely something to be feared. More than one set of eyes flicked towards the redhead, silently comparing him to the Wutain. Reno stood up quickly as Tseng approached. "Didn't Rufus come?" he asked, startled to find that his blonde boss's absence hurt him a bit.

"Waiting outside," Tseng said calmly. "Took one look at the mud and decided he wasn't interested in coming in. He's sitting in the helicopter and trying to get you out of trouble over the phone."

"… Is he mad?"

Tseng lifted an eyebrow at the tentative question. "Why don't you go find out? I'm not privy to his emotions. I'll just be a minute - I have to sort out your discharge."

Reno nodded and picked up his bag, heading out of the hall without a backwards glance. He'd hated every minute of this place, he sure as hell wasn't going to miss it. He walked quickly across the compound, for once not caring about the mud he kicked up, which splashed his boots and dirtied the hems of his dark blue trousers. He stepped onto the concrete helipad and walked slowly towards the large, dark grey Shinra luxury helicopter sitting on the pad. He reached up towards the handle of the back door but it opened before his fingers even touched the metal. Rufus, a phone pressed against his ear, leant back in his seat and gestured him inside.

Reno tried to scrape his boots off on the concrete before he climbed in, with little result, then tossed his bag in, climbing up quickly. He settled himself in one of the luxurious white leather seats, waiting with trepidation for Rufus to finish his call. Ice blue eyes bored into him as he sat there trying to make himself as small as possible, feeling useless. Gods, he couldn't even last a couple of weeks without losing his temper and doing something stupid. That was just pathetic.

Rufus said goodbye and closed the phone. He put it in the pocket of his suit jacket and stared at Reno some more. "Well?"

"The bastard deserved it." That was all Reno had to say in his defence, and he knew the words were ridiculously inadequate. He bit his tongue, staring at a point on the floor and waiting for the tirade. After a few seconds of tirade-less silence, he risked a glance up and was amazed to see Rufus laughing silently. "What's so fucking funny?" he asked in an injured tone of voice. "What the hell're you laughin' about?"

"You," Rufus said, still chuckling softly, one hand held in front of his mouth, blue eyes that suddenly weren't quite so icy meeting Reno's. "You sound so… sullen. What did the Drill Sergeant do to provoke you? There must have been something." (1)

Reno bit his lip, not wanting to talk about it, eyes back on the carpet. "He… um…" His eyes suddenly jerked up to meet Rufus's again. Rufus was startled to see something wounded in their bluey-green depths and although his face betrayed no emotion (he thought one senseless fit was enough for one day) he felt an unexpected rage start to boil in him as he guessed what had happened. "You were sexually harassed?" he said, his voice rivalling a glacier for sheer coldness. Reno's cheeks flushed with hot blood and he returned his gaze to the patch of floor he was becoming rapidly familiar with. Rufus frowned and leant forward to catch his attention, but at that moment the door opened again and Tseng climbed in. Rufus leant back again, his frown gone to be replaced with the usual blank mask.

Tseng started the chopper up, Reno watching with dull interest as he flipped switches. After a moment, they were in the air. Reno glanced out the window a smirk touching his mouth. "Goodbye hell." Rufus gave him a long meditative look then glanced towards Tseng. "Would you like to add anything on the disciplinary front?" he asked. Tseng shook his head, concentrating on the controls.

"No, sir."

"Good," Rufus said, reaching forward and closing the door that separated the cockpit from the cabin. "Reno?" Reno only managed a glance at his boss before looking away. Rufus sighed. "How long?"

"He… didn't actually _do_… anything," Reno muttered. "He was going to, though, so I beat the fucker up." His head jerked up suddenly, and he stared at Rufus with eyes that were filled with heated anger. "The bastard's fucking lucky I didn't get hold of my EMR or he _would_ be fucking dead! And there's no reason to look so fucking _concerned_, I'm _fine_."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Reno just doubled over, shaking uncontrollably as pure horror coursed through him. Rufus heard him sobbing quietly and couldn't help himself. He reached out and grabbed hold of Reno's arm, pulling him across the cabin and onto the seat next to him. He then very, very, _very_ hesitantly wrapped his arms around the crying redhead, pulling him up close to him. He was not used to physical contact. Reno buried his face in his shoulder, and Rufus tried hard not to think about what salt water was going to do to his heinously expensive suit. Then Reno slid his arms around him as well, clinging on for dear life as his body was racked with painful sobs. He'd been so fucking _scared_.

After a while, his crying slowed and then stopped, but he still stayed slumped against Rufus, exhausted, and growing too embarrassed to lift his head and look at his boss. What the hell was wrong with him? He shouldn't be…

_What, shouldn__'__t be crying? Shouldn__'__t be crying __on your boss__? Bit fucking late for that, isn__'__t it?_

He pulled away from Rufus suddenly, and sat slumped, his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. There was silence yet again as Rufus inspected the shoulder of his suit, relieved that there hadn't been any serious damage, and Reno just sat there, dark red flush across his cheeks. "Sorry," he muttered, breaking the long silence. "Care to explain that?" Rufus asked calmly, lifting his eyes from his suit and fixing his eyes on Reno again, coldly enquiring. Whatever empathy he'd shown before was completely gone, hidden behind his layers of veils and illusions. (2)

"………"

"Reno…"

"Bad experience, okay? I didn't need that fucking shit all over again, just after I'd gotten over the last lot." The glare was back on Reno's face, red rimmed eyes angry again, this time at some unknown in his past. "Growing up in the Slums is a bitch," he added when he caught Rufus' slightly confused look. Then he returned to staring at the ground. "Especially… if you look good." There was an uncomfortable silence. "Reno?" Rufus said suddenly, not sure what he was gone to say. The redhead looked at him enquiringly, bluey-green eyes strangely vulnerable. "Yeah, boss?"

"Don't worry about it." He didn't need to say what. "I didn't… mind… And I realise how ridiculous this is going to sound, and how pointless, but try to… forget about what happened. It won't be allowed to happen again." Reno stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay… Shit." He laughed shortly, brushing the back of his hand across his eyes. "I'm sorry. Wasn't supposed to do that…"

"It's alright," Rufus said. "Trauma does strange things to people."

Reno half grinned and went to stand up, to move back to his own seat. He was stopped by Rufus grabbing his sleeve. He looked sideways at the smaller teenager, who refused to meet his gaze. "You don't have to," was all Rufus said, releasing his sleeve, and bringing his hand back to rest in his lap, staring at it as though it had betrayed him. Reno hesitated, then carefully slid back into the seat, not sure why, but just relaxing in the presence of the other. For some reason, he'd missed Rufus while he'd been away. Although, what there was to miss about an ice sculpture who held a gun to his head on a regular basis eluded him, he'd missed him nonetheless. He couldn't know that Rufus had felt the same way towards him for the past two months.

Reno was silent for the rest of the trip. But he promised himself that no bastard was _ever_ going to make him cry again. Ever. He was stronger than that.

(1) Excuse the OOC-ness, it just happened. And it only gets worse…

(2) I hate this line. I rewrote it about eight times and I couldn't do anything better so I did a Reno impression (swore a lot) and left it.

A/N: Lame, random, inexplicable and probably OOC. I don't like this chapter.

Reno: Why am I crying?

Rufus: And why is he crying on me? Do you have any idea how much that suit _cost_?

Me: I have a fair idea. //winces// Sorry.

Reno: I DON'T just randomly start crying, you know.

Me & Rufus: Yes, you do.

Reno: ... Shut up.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Reno of the Turks_

_A/N: okay, this is just a random conversation I wrote between Rufus and Reno during maths a couple of weeks ago. I figured I should include it. Skip over it of you no like. Oh, and the ball idea was inspired by a picky I saw on deviantArt by Nashya, called Fk the Party. Go look, it's brialliant._

_333_

"Reno…"

"Yes, sir?"

"How many piercings do you actually have?"

Reno started to count on his fingers. He ticked off the multiple rings in his ears, the two in his left eyebrow and his lip ring. "Fourteen…" He was hit in the back of the head by Tseng, and winced, remembering the rules. "…sir."

Rufus gave him a Look. It was a Look he was fast growing accustomed. It signified irritation and faint disgust. "That's repulsive."

"Hey, I used to have more than twenty!" Reno yelped, feeling defensive.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"………"

"I want them all gone by tomorrow."

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Tseng nearly hit him again, but this time he ducked, slipping out of range. "What I choose to shove in my body is my own freakin' concern, not yours!" _That sounded vaguely wrong… Hope no one else noticed…_ Judging from the infinitesimal smirk on Rufus' face, and Tseng's raised eyebrow, they _had_ noticed. He tried to contain his blush.

"Actually it is." _And that sounded even wronger… is wronger even a fucking word? _

He glared at Rufus. "Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too… My gods, this is childish." Rufus rolled his eyes.

"I agree," said Reno and Tseng at exactly the same time.

"But it still isn't," Reno added. Rufus glared at him. Reno glared back.

"Reno… Just have them gone by tomorrow."

"Can't I keep a couple?"

"Two."

"Three?" Reno gave him the most pleading look he could manage, considering his huge attitude problem.

"Very well." Rufus just looked bored.

"Four?"

"Don't push it, Reno."

Reno sighed and stared moodily at the wall. This sucked.

The door opened and a soldier walked in, not even bothering to ask if he _could_ actually come in. "President Shinra wants to see you," he said flatly. Rufus' eyes narrowed, going cold and distant. He said nothing. Tseng sighed. Reno pushed himself away from the wall he'd been leaning on. "_Firstly_, learn how to fucking knock," he said in an even voice as he walked towards the suddenly frightened soldier. The man swallowed. He'd _heard_ stories about the newest Turk. "_Secondly_, it's Vice President Shinra, or at least sir. Thirdly, get the fuck out before I'm tempted to shove my EMR up your sorry ass. Tell President Fuckface we're busy."

The man fled.

There was silence for a _long_ time. "Reno?" Rufus said finally.

"Yes, sir?" Reno turned around and gave him a quietly enquiring look. Rufus was smiling.

"You can keep your piercings, if you want."

"Thank you, sir."

999

Reno lay on his bed, running over the past few weeks in his mind, still startled at how quickly his life had changed. Who would've guessed that the gutter rat he had been could have ever become a Turk?

It'd been six weeks since Reno had been brought back from the training camp, six weeks since he'd legally become a Turk. There'd been some bullshit ceremony and everything. He didn't remember much of it, having spent most of the time staring at Rufus and trying not to fall asleep - said ceremony had taken place at dawn. Reno had fallen asleep the night before with his EMR on the bedside table, like he had every night since the… incident at boot camp, and Tseng had nearly been fried when he went to wake Reno up. After the ceremony and the awarding of assorted object including the more official handing over of his EMR. The metal stun-baton still had a bit of dried blood smeared on the grip from where Reno had brained some would be assassin with it the night before. There hadn't been time to prime the thing, so when the bastard had come running up waving a knife, Reno had just smacked him in the face. That bit of quick thinking had actually earned an approving nod from Tseng, and a half smile from Rufus. For one of the first times in his life, Reno had been proud of himself. That feeling had swiftly faded about six seconds later when the President had walked in and demanded to know why the assassin had even got that far, then blamed him getting in on Reno. The redhead had bit his lip ring and forced himself not to reply. He still had the bruises from the last time he'd spoken back to the President in Rufus' presence. He hadn't understood why at the time, and he still didn't, but Rufus had beaten the crap out of him once they were alone. There were times when Reno wondered about the loyalty that he had swiftly formed for the icy blonde. He had a feeling it tied into that time in the helicopter, when for some unknown reason Rufus had let Reno break down in his arms.

Reno sighed softly, staring up at the ceiling of his apartment. Rufus hadn't mentioned the embarrassing incident again, for which Reno was _very_ grateful. He had no idea what the hell he had been thinking…

But having Rufus as an ally wasn't such a bad idea, so the redhead had formed a tentative friendship with his employer, one he'd been grateful of when the time came round for him to have the mandatory Mako injections, which all Shinra SOLDIER's and Turks had to have. Rufus had given him time off until the burning pain from having the pure energy put into his bloodstream had worn off. Apparently that was a lot more than he did for most his employees.

555

Reno rolled off his bed and walked from his closet of a bedroom, out into the kitchen. He was sitting on the kitchen bench, only wearing a pair of black jean with his hair a scruffy mess, eating peanut butter from the jar with a spoon when the door opened and the two people he least wanted to see him like that walked in. Tseng turned and looked at Reno, who had a spoon stuck in his mouth and a horrified expression on his face, with amusement. Rufus just stared around the messy apartment in horror. "How could you get it all so dirty? You don't even own all that much stuff." he asked coldly. Reno didn't reply - he couldn't, the peanut butter had somehow stuck the spoon to the roof of his mouth, and he was struggling to dislodge it, pouring himself a glass of water from the tap and swilling it around in his mouth. Rufus was still looking around, not having even bothered glancing at Reno yet (for which the redhead was _ver_y grateful). "This place is the dictionary definition of 'squalid'. Why do you even live here?"

Due to how Reno was trying to multitask in both finding a shirt to put on, doing something about his hair and unsticking his mouth, Tseng was nice enough to answer for him: "Because you told him to, sir."

Rufus rolled his eyes and turned around. "And since when has me telling him to do something… had… any…effect…" He trailed off as he finally caught sight of the desperate and shirtless Reno. His pale cheeks were suddenly red. For a second he just stared, mouth slightly open. Then he quickly regained his habitual cool, his skin returned to the usual icy pale and he closed his mouth. "_Reno_…" he started, not quite knowing what he was going to say, but knowing that he had to salvage the situation somehow. He shook his head slightly and tried to remember what he had come here to say.

Reno got in first. "Um… Why are you here, sir? It's my day off."

Thanks god for Tseng. "There is a ball scheduled tomorrow night. Vice President Shinra is expected to go and I… cannot attend: the lord throwing the ball is strictly anti-Wutain. It isn't expected that there will be any real threats but, nevertheless… You will go with Rufus and keep him safe. Understood?"

Reno just nodded, absently licking peanut butter off his fingers. He stopped when Rufus caught his eye, looking grossed out.

A/N: Yes, yes, this sucked and was way too short. I'm just trying to set things up for a random ball scene. Enjoy. And my new page break, which i hope will actually work, is random groups of three numbers. Just so you don't get too confused.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Alright! New chapter!! Pretty quick, no? Yes well, behold Reno at a ball with nice polite people. Behold Rufus losing his mind and being called strange nicknames. Oh, and I don't own FFVII, or Rufus, or Reno, by the way. I made the assorted characters that Reno comes up against up myself though. Okay, then, read on.

Chapter Three

_Ball_

There was a uniform. A dress uniform. The standard Turk dress uniform. It sat on a clothing dummy in the Shinra uniform depot, looking like the innocent uniform it was. Reno stared at it. It was dark blue with red armbands on the jacket sleeves. There was a black dress shirt and a red tie. Reno stared at it some more. Finally, he ventured a question of Tseng, who was standing beside him. "I… have to wear that?" His voice was slightly strangled.

Tseng nodded, trying to suppress a smirk. "Yes, Reno, you do. And Vice President Shinra directed that I tell you that if you mysteriously 'lost' the tie on the way to the party, or if you failed to wear it, you would be on guard duty with half pay for six months."

Reno winced. "Does he mean it?"

"I would say so." Tseng had to fight _very_ hard to keep that smirk at bay. The expression of dismay on Reno's face was utterly priceless. The teenager looked like someone had just told him that he'd have to go to the party wearing a pink spandex bodysuit, not just a suit with a tie. The last time Tseng had seen someone look that shocked and scared, it had been a twenty year old woman who'd just been told she had terminal cancer.

Reno sighed and turned to Tseng. "Where do I get one in my size, then?" He sounded defeated. Tseng finally let the smirk bloom into existence. Rufus had definitely played a trump card there – Reno utterly _hated_ guard duty. Standing in one place doing nothing wore on his nerves. Reno was so subdued he wasn't even swearing. He simply walked off to get his uniform, head hanging dejectedly. Tseng's smirk turned into a fully fledged malevolent grin.

Rufus' lips twitched slightly. "Reno, where the hell did you learn to tie a tie?" He'd been watching the redheaded Turk struggle with the simple piece of cloth for about ten minutes. Reno obviously had no idea what he was doing. The Turk lifted his head and glared at his immaculate boss, who was sitting gingerly on the edge of Reno's couch, where he'd been for the last half hour, waiting for Reno to finish getting ready. He didn't seem that concerned about being late. "I didn't," Reno said shortly. "I've never had to. I fuckin' _hate_ ties." Rufus half grinned. He beckoned slightly, just a small twitch of his fingers. "Come here."

Reno walked across the room warily, scowling. His jacket hung open over a fully buttoned shirt, and his dark red hair wasn't tied back yet, still a little wet from the shower, it cascaded down his back and across his shoulders. Rufus stood up and started fiddling with the contrary bit of fabric. Reno looked down at the perfectly combed blonde head, and wondered how the hell Rufus had ended up being a sort of friend to him. After all, the guy had held a gun to his head less than four months ago. It made no sense.

As always, after a little while, Reno started to get a strange shivery feeling at Rufus' proximity, and he chewed on his lip ring, trying to ignore it. He stared at Rufus' golden hair and desperately ignored the fluttery feeling in his stomach, ignored how his knees began to go weak. He was relieved and also weirdly disappointed when Rufus finally stepped back. His tie had been tied perfectly.

But Rufus wasn't quite finished yet. He did up the buttons of Reno's jacket, tugged it straight and then glanced up at Reno, who was staring at him with shocked interest. Rufus was blushing, his cheeks stained the palest pink. "If you turn up looking like the street rat you normally appear to be, it will reflect back on me," he said tartly. "I could live without the gossip. Do you even own a hair brush?"

"Yeah, it's in the bathroom," Reno said without thinking. Rufus immediately disappeared to look for it.

"Take out some of those earrings," he called over his shoulder as he walked away. "You can put them back in tomorrow. And lose the lip and eyebrow rings."

Reno bit back a protest and meekly started to take out earrings. He left three in in his right ear, and four in the left, sulkily pulling out his lip ring and compromising by fitting his eyebrow piercings with clear plug-like things. Now what the hell was he going to do when he was bored or nervous? Chewing on his lip ring was a habit. As he dumped his removed piercings in a glass and stuck them on the kitchen sink, Rufus re-emerged from the bathroom, a brush held in one hand. He sat on the couch and pointed at the floor in front of him. "Sit."

"I can brush my own fucking hair," Reno protested, but Rufus just sighed and pointed again.

"Sit," he repeated. "I told you that your appearance was my concern. Your hair falls under that category. Now, just do as you're told."

Reno sighed irritably and sat, cross legged, in front of Rufus, muttering something about perfectionist's under his breath. Rufus just started to run the brush through his hair. Or, at least, tried to – he gave that up after snagging it in knots four or five times, and started finger combing it instead, just to get most of the major knots out. His fingers brushed Reno's scalp, running lazily through the crimson mass. Reno bit his lip very hard and tried not to think indecent thoughts. _Fuck it! This is your _male_ boss! Calm the fuck down._

But it did feel _really_ nice. Reno couldn't remember the last time someone had brushed his hair for him. Rufus' legs were also against his back, making him bite his lip even harder and pray for cold water. Finally Rufus switched to using the hair brush, and Reno could breathe a little easier. But he was still more than a little too close. When Rufus eventually finished with his hair and tied it back in a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck, Reno shot to his feet, moving a few feet away _very_ quickly.

Rufus lifted an eyebrow but Reno gave him absolutely no explanation, and didn't meet his eyes, just sat down and started pulling his boots on. Rufus smirked.

The ballroom was utterly packed. Reno rolled his eyes as he walked in on Rufus' heels, watching as his boss was immediately accosted by six or seven females in low-cut dresses. Rufus very politely gave them his best cold shoulder-antisocial act, brushing them off and leaving them pouting in his wake as he walked off. "Do you know why you're really here, Reno?" he said over his shoulder, scanning the room.

"Why, sir?" Reno asked. While he didn't necessarily have to refer to Rufus as 'sir' in private, he had to maintain something approaching respect in public, or risk being yelled at/beaten up later on, depending on Rufus' irritation levels. "You're here to keep me sane," Rufus said through gritted teeth, forcing a slight smile as he walked over to greet his host. Reno grinned and followed, praying that this evening would end quickly.

Three hours later, Reno was contemplating either suicide or homicide. He was trapped, talking (read: him nodding occasionally while being babbled at, praying for some sort of rescue) with a business man in a pinstriped suit, who was fat enough to rival President Shinra. Fatso raved on about the wonders of Mako injection and how they had the best fighting force in the world. Beside him, Rufus made polite conversation with some moron who must have been the Pinstriped Fool's business partner, clad in a similar suit. He also raved about the joys of Mako. Finally Reno had had enough. "Three quarters of the Shinra army don't even get fucking Mako injections," he said coldly, cutting the bastard off midstream. Rufus and the Fool's partner broke off their conversation and glanced at him. "They're no different from any other men. It's only SOLDIER and the Turks who have to have them," Reno continued. "And they aren't so fucking wonderful. All I noticed was that they hurt."

There was silence from the Pinstriped Wonders. Rufus broke it. "I apologize for that. Reno is still… a little rough around the edges. If you would excuse us?"

He shook hands with the two men, and walked off, Reno on his heels once again. Once they were out of earshot, Rufus shot an amused glance at Reno which for some reason sent his heart a-flutter. "Thank you. Another minute there, and I was going to kill myself."

"Same here," Reno replied flatly. "How much longer do we –"

"Why, hello there," a flirty feminine voice interrupted him. Reno glanced sideways. A blonde haired girl maybe a few years older than Reno, wearing an incredibly flimsy looking light green dress was standing beside him, gazing up at him with green eyes. "I'm Felicity. Who would you be?"

"Reno," he snapped. "And I'm working."

Felicity cast those big green eyes at Rufus, who was watching with mingled irritation and amusement. He obviously recognised this girl. "Surely Ruffy can spare you for a few moments…?"

Reno grinned openly, glancing sideways at Rufus. "'Ruffy?'" Cold blue eyes went positively glacial.

"Don't even _think_ about it, Reno. And I'm sorry, but I can't just let him wander off," he said to the blonde. "He's working."

"Aw, but –" She went all pouty. Reno lost his temper. Stupid girls irritated him and this room was full of them, all staring at him and Rufus with hungry eyes. (It probably had something to do with the fact that they were the only two males in the room weighing less than a quarter ton and under the age of forty.)

"Oh, for fuck's sake, can't you take a hint?" he snarled.

"What?" Felicity said, her eyes utterly huge with shock. It had probably been the first Reno grit his teeth.

"Piss off."

Her mouth opened wide, then her green eyes spat sparks. She turned and flounced off. Reno rolled his eyes as he watched her go. He whipped around when he heard soft sniggering. "Sir?"

Rufus was laughing, just quietly, one elegant hand held over his mouth, blue eyes dancing with laughter. He quickly regained his composure. "Come on, Reno," he said, still grinning slightly. "We're supposed to socialise for a little while longer."

Reno rolled his eyes and smirked. "Yes, Ruffy."

Finally, the socialising came to an end, and the dancing actually began. The two young men were immediately besieged by girls begging them to dance. Both antisocial by nature, they hated it. Reno managed to beg off on the pretext that he was working, but Rufus was soon circling the floor with woman after woman, still making polite conversation. His eyes got colder and colder with each dance. Reno was beginning to wonder if he was going to whip out a gun and massacre everybody in the room, when Rufus finally managed to extricate himself, evade the horde of women still waiting to dance with him, and stalk over to Reno.

He grabbed a glass of wine and took a large mouthful. "Were it not for the fact that I doubt you know how to waltz," he hissed, "I'd order _you_ to deal with those simpering morons. If I get one more bitch fluttering her eyelashes at me tonight, I'm going to go insane." He finished his glass of wine far too quickly.

Reno smirked and grabbed his boss a new glass from a passing waitress. "You'd think you'd be used to this by now, sir," he said, handing the glass to him. "Don't you have to do this pretty often?"

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," he snarled, sipping this one. He saw out of the corner of his eye the approaching horde and bit his lip. "Oh, shit, I'm going to have to go dance again."

The fury and despair in his normally calm voice was enough to make even Reno feel bad for him. And then there was also the fact that Reno had had about thirty morons coming up and trying to flirt with him. Two had been drunk, and he _really_ didn't want to go through that again. Slum girls he could handle, could enjoy flirting with, random feelings towards his boss aside, but the rich chicks were all idiots. The redhead glanced around quickly. "Alright," he muttered, his eyes falling on a possible escape route. "C'mon, sir. I think I've found us somewhere to hide." He headed across the room, Rufus following without complaint. Reno slipped through the heavy velvet curtains concealing the balcony from view, Rufus in close pursuit.

Out on the wide balcony, the air was cool, soothing, a welcome relief from the heat of the ballroom. "Why the hell do they keep the curtains pulled?" Reno wondered aloud as he boosted himself up to sit on the balcony railing. "The room wouldn't be so damn hot if they just used their fuckin' heads."

"I think they want to avoid poor beset people like myself from dashing out and flinging myself off," Rufus replied idly, wandering over and staring out at the brightness of the city. There were lights everywhere stretched in a glittering band across the landscape, practically solid yellow colour. "Either that or they consider the city to be an eyesore."

"I wouldn't argue," Reno muttered. Rufus half smiled.

"Aw, don't consider our city lovely? Whyever not?" He tilted his head and stared up at Reno with amused blue eyes. Reno could practically see the tension dropping from him now he was away from the ballroom. He bit his lip, looking away. Rufus looked positively angelic in his pure white suit, standing there in the half gloom. He picked his words carefully as he replied. "I may have hated that stupid fucking training camp," he said. "But at least it got dark at night." There was a whisper of movement and Rufus was sitting beside him on the wide stone balcony rail. "What was it like there?" he asked, actually curious, for once acting like a mildly normal seventeen year old boy. "Perverted Drill Sergeants aside."

Reno took a moment before replying, shifting so his back was leaning against the stone where the balcony connected to the wall, his face cast into shadow. He scrounged in one pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, pulling one out with his mouth and returning the packet to his pocket before lighting it. Rufus rolled his eyes and waited patiently – considering how many addictions Reno _could_ have had (drugs, etc) a small smoking habit was pretty trivial in comparison, so he saw no point in nagging him about it. Just so long as Rufus himself didn't end up smelling like cigarette smoke.

"Well…" Reno said quietly. "I had to sleep in this big barracks with a hundred or so other morons. Hated that, cos I was the Turk, the outsider. We were up before dawn every day, and there was a so fun hour long sessions of stretches and push ups, et cetera. Then we went for a run in the mud and over an obstacle course. Then there were classes in combat or whatever. I got to learn the basics of espionage, so at least I didn't have to do that with the group. I hated the lot of them."

He was silent again, smoking quietly. A moment later, just as Reno was about to talk again, a short, fat man walked out onto the balcony. "Ah, Rufus, m'boy!" he said jovially.

Reno snapped. "Will you fucking piss off, you stupid bastard!" he hissed, stubbing his cigarette out on the balcony rail and tossing the stub over the side. The man blanched, staring at Reno with a mixture of horror and fury. So did the mob of business men who'd followed behind him.

Rufus very carefully did not smile and hopped off the balustrade. "Apologies, sir," he said to the man Reno had snarled at. "With your leave, we'll be going now. Thank you for an enjoyable evening. Come along, Reno." He shook the stunned man's hand and walked off, back through the curtains and towards the exit.

"Why are we leaving now, sir?" Reno asked Rufus curiously as they walked down the front steps to where their car was being brought around. "Not that I'm not completely delighted or anything, but it was a bit sudden wasn't it." Rufus gave a soft, warm, completely unexpected chuckle that had Reno feeling hot blood running to his… cheeks. "Did you have any idea who the latest victim of your acid tongue actually _was_, Reno?"

"Um… no?"

"He was the host of this little gathering, one of my father's best friends. I'd imagine that that was the first time someone's ever sworn at him… You're getting a bonus for this."

A/N: sniggers I love Reno, and his interesting ways of reacting to interruptions, don't you? Bet Rufus would've enjoyed that. Oh, and by the way... Will you PLEASE just review this damn thing? I've had almost two hundred hits and there're only like seven reviews. Thanks heaps to the people who did review me. XD


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Final Fantasy VII or anything really. That joy belongs to Square-Enix. Someday I will own a Reno plushie to hug, though. Squeeee!

Chapter Four

_Mission_

Reno dug his teeth into his lip ring, not quite suppressing a wild grin of excitement. Finally! He was finally allowed to go on an actual Turk mission. Up until now, all he'd been allowed to do was guard Rufus, which, while not a bad way to spend his time, didn't really measure up to the prospect of being able to run around and whack people with his EMR without fear of a reprimand from his boss. He walked from Rufus' office after briefing down to the lounge or whatever the hell it was called, whistling happily. Shinra executives and soldiers watched him walk past with trepidation and shock. "What's got him so happy?" a sergeant whom Reno had sworn at a couple of hours before asked Rufus' secretary. "Just got clearance for his first official mission as a Turk," she explained. Nothing more really needed to be said.

Reno was off to kill things in the morning.

…

It was a heinously early hour that the redhead awoke the next morning. He clubbed his alarm clock with his EMR, rolled over and nearly went back to sleep again. The phone rang just as he started to drift off again. He swore and staggered out of bed, groping along in the dark towards the kitchen. He grabbed the phone, and snarled "_What_?" into the receiver.

"Good morning, Reno," came Tseng's calm voice, not the least put out by the teenager's surliness. "Go have a shower and eat something. Try to wake up a little. Be at Shinra offices by five." Reno hung up.

"Fuck you," he said to the silent phone. Then he flipped the light switch, swore violently at the blinding flare of yellow light and stumbled off to have that shower.

…

He managed to get to Shinra offices ten minutes early. Tseng stared at him. "Reno… you're actually early. Are you feeling well?"

"Ha bloody ha," was Reno's snide reply. He yawned and rubbed at his bloodshot eyes. "When are we leaving?" They were going to an abandoned laboratory somewhere in the middle of nowhere to ensure that all the failed experiments had died when the place had been gassed.

"Since you're here," Tseng said, moving off up the marble lobby stairs towards the elevators. "Now, I suppose." Reno followed along on the older man's heels, for once bypassing his habitual antagonism in the delighted anticipation of hurting something big time. He was smiling happily as he passed several Shinra grunts, and he didn't notice it, but at least four of them crossed themselves at the murderous glee in his eyes.

Reno climbed in the waiting Shinra helicopter. This one wasn't Rufus' luxury chopper, it was a military style one, fully weapon equipped. Reno curled up in the passenger seat in the cockpit, knees up to his chest, humming random songs happily. Tseng picked up a pair of goggles from the 'copter dashboard and threw them at him. "Put those on," he ordered.

Reno blinked. "Um, why?"

Tseng rolled his eyes and started up the engine. The rotor blades began to turn. "I didn't mean on your eyes, idiot, although if you want to do that I'm not arguing. I just meant stick them on to keep your hair out of your eyes. You _don't_ want to be blinded at a crucial moment in there."

Reno blinked again. "And for the purpose of keeping my hair out of my eyes, you give me goggles?"

"The alternative is hairclips."

Reno put the goggles on.

…

The helicopter ride was mostly silent. Reno asked questions occasionally, most of them variants on "Are we there yet?" He didn't do it because he was particularly interested, he liked flying enough to not be bored, he just liked watching how Tseng clenched his teeth and swore every time he asked. After Tseng threatened to throw him out of the helicopter, he resorted to singing loud obnoxious songs and watching Tseng's complexion change colour. When he decided it wasn't safe to bug his superior any longer, he stared out the window, watching with fascination as Midgar's desert-y surroundings changed to a lush rainforest. He'd never seen so much green in one place in his life. It was amazing for the Midgar Slums boy who'd grown up under the Plate.

Soon, an unnatural looking clearing in the forest came into view. Tseng easily parked the 'copter on a concrete helipad at the centre of the clearing, and undid his seat belt, opening the door and letting in the oppressive rainforest heat. "Come along, Reno," he said, checking the clip on his handgun. "We have work to do."

Reno jumped out of the helicopter, and felt his heavy steel capped boots crush some small, furry and, above all else, squishy… thing as he landed. This was not a good start. He looked at it, smeared on the pavement.. Whatever it had been, it was pretty unidentifiable now, being just a mangled excuse for a creature with bugged out eyes and a perplexed expression on it's mildly flat face. Reno blinked a couple of times, then shrugged. Okay, so he just squished a small animal. Moving on. He walked around the helicopter, absently scraping his boots off on the concrete as he did. Small bits of random-squishy-animal still insisted upon clinging to his feet, making him roll his eyes and swear softly. Just what he needed – fragrant animal gut attached to his footwear. Determinedly putting it from his mind, he pulled out his EMR and looked at Tseng. "Where are we going?"

Tseng just pointed to a pair of steel doors set into the ground, which was nearly completely grown over with grass and vines. Reno hadn't even noticed it. "Get the shrubbery away from that," he ordered. "Then we can get started." Reno rolled his eyes, but ripped the vines away, glancing back at Tseng after he'd done so. Tseng threw an earpiece thing at him. "Put that in and don't take it out again until we've finished here and are in the helicopter on the way home. Understood?"

Reno just nodded, putting the earpiece in. The two Turks stood on either side of the doors, grabbed a handle each and pulled them quickly open, making sure they were completely out of sight as they did so. Nothing huge or furry leapt out to disembowel them. Instead, a small furry critter, much like the one Reno had stepped on, blinked in the sudden and totally unexpected light, obviously traumatised, and then scuttled off down the stairs that led away from the open doors. "I stepped on one of those things," Reno said randomly. Tseng just gave him a look that spoke volumes about his general inanity and walked off down into the dark, moving close to the wall with his gun at the ready. Reno rolled his eyes and followed, priming his EMR as he did so, and flicking it up to level five: excruciating but not fatal for human sized creatures.

…

Down they went, into the dark, senses on full alert, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. There were a lot of the small scuttling furry creatures. Reno tried desperately to ignore them. He couldn't afford to be unprofessional at this stage. The stairs came to an end and they were standing in what appearing to be a large storage depot, full of crates and barrels. Suddenly, there was a high pitched shriek and something came flying out of the darkness towards Reno. He was thrown backwards and skidded across the floor, slamming into a big wooden box. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he snarled, managing to roll sideways before the thing which had knocked him managed to take a swipe at him. As it was, its large clawed paw ended up embedded in the box instead of his head. Reno looked up into crazed, bloodthirsty yellow eyes, and tightened his hold on his EMR. He jabbed the monster in the ribs with the electric baton, sending a current of power coursing through its body.

The thing convulsed once and then fell still, blood running from its mouth, its furious yellow eyes open and staring. It also collapsed on top of Reno, half crushing him and driving the breath from his lungs. He tried to swear, but found he didn't have enough oxygen to do that, and tried to roll the black furred monster off him. It was too heavy. A moment later, he felt someone else shoving at the thing, and shortly after, Reno was free. He sat up, gasping, painfully trying to fill his lungs with air. _Ow, ow, ow. _Tseng grabbed his shoulder, helping him stay upright as he slowly steadied his breathing.

"What the fuck _was_ that!?" he howled as soon as he could manage it. He looked sideways at the dead beast. It was about two and a half metres long, with plush, velvety blue-black fur. It appeared to be a strange combination of panther and dog, with a slender but muscled build more along the lines of cat than dog, resembling that of a cheetah. Its head was dog shaped with a long muzzle, large ears and a strange sort of crest almost like a tail connected to the back of its neck. But its eyes were definitely feline, big and yellow with the typical slit pupils. It had retractable claws, fangs that were slender like a cat's but very strong like a dog's and, evidently, not much of a tolerance for electricity.

"I assume it is one of the experiments," Tseng said quietly. "Are you hurt?"

Reno stood up, gingerly testing his body. "Don't think so…" He winced as bruises, aches and pains made themselves known. "Not too badly anyway. A few bruises, is all." He rubbed his left shoulder to ease up the ache in it, (it was the part of him that has first connected with the wooden crate) and scowled as he saw Tseng walking away, apparently uninterested now that he was sure that Reno hadn't been seriously damaged. He jogged to catch up, leaving the corpse where it was. About then, a pitiful mewing caught his ear. _Huh?_

He turned, his eyes running over the room, searching for the source of the sound. His gaze fell upon a small darkened recess between a pair of crates, roofed by yet another wooden box. He crossed the floor gingerly, EMR at the ready, not wanting to be caught out once again by some big, nasty, sharp toothed monster. "Reno," Tseng called behind him. "Come on."

"Just a minute," Reno called back, moving carefully closer to the opening. Things happened very quickly after that.

With a roar, another one of the creatures erupted from the opening. Tseng, edgy enough to begin with, whipped his gun up, and had four bullets in the thing before it even got anywhere near to where Reno had been. Reno ducked to one side, letting the claws pass him by, then brought his EMR down in a quick arc, zapping the thing. It convulsed, then collapsed just like the first one had. Reno prodded it with a booted foot, just to check it was dead. When he was convinced it wasn't going to spring to life and try to rip his head off, he checked inside the crate-formed little cave for the thing which had mewed.

Bright blue eyes stared back at him. The baby monster gave him a curious look, and mewed. It sat up, and toddled over to look at Reno with enquiring eyes. It was only about a foot long, with the beginnings of the crest its parents had had at the base of their necks. It still had the blue eyes of a very young. It squeaked again. Then it walked past him towards its parent, and butted the big cat/dog side with a little head, obviously expecting it to get up and feed it. It was about then that Reno started to feel very guilty.

"What the hell do we do with it?" he asked Tseng, sounding confused and defensive. Tseng gave him an amused look. Reno was suddenly looking and acting like the teenager he was. "What do you think?" he said, reloading his gun. Reno stared at him, a look of almost comic horror on his face. "You can't just shoot it!" he yelped, reaching forward and picking the thing up. It actually purring and curled up against his chest. With its mother/father non-responsive it must have wanted some love. Tseng lifted an eyebrow. "Yes, I can. Put it down." He gestured with the gun.

"No fucking way!" Reno said as the thing cuddled up under his chin and purred some more. "It's just a baby!"

"A baby which will grow up into one of those things," Tseng retorted, pointing at the dead monster. "We were ordered to eliminate the abandoned experiments, not just spare them because they look adorable. Really, Reno, I wouldn't have picked you to be soft hearted."

"I FUCKING AM NOT!!" Reno snarled. "I just don't like the idea of killing a helpless animal, okay?"

"You have no problems killing helpless humans," Tseng countered. He was starting to change his mind, though. Reno didn't look like he was going to change his, and they had work to do.

"No human is entirely helpless," Reno said, absentmindedly patting the small creature's fuzzy fur. "This thing's only a few weeks old." The kitten/puppy thing kept purring. Somehow seeming to know that Reno was arguing for its continued existence, it also started to lick his chin with a dog-like tongue. He just managed to suppress a giggle. Tseng sighed as he stared at the pair in front of him. Reno acting childish in the middle of a very dangerous complex probably full of very dangerous things. This was all he needed. "Reno…" he began, with full intentions of telling the redhead to get rid of the thing. Two pairs of pleading eyes, one set bluey green with mako-glow, the other bright baby-cat blue, fixed on his face. Not even Tseng was enough to stand up to a double-whammy of puppy-dog eyes. "Fine," he said testily, turning around and stalking off. "You can keep the damn thing. But if you get killed because you're too busy protecting it, don't come whining to me."

Reno's teeth flashed in a wide grin as he silently tucked the small creature into the front of his jacket, actually doing up the suit buttons for once to hold it in place. It gave him a considering look, then hooked its claws into his shirt and went to sleep, a little bundle under his clothes. A world of _awwww!!_

…

About an hour later, the kitten/puppy was bounding along at Reno's heels instead. Tseng typed a code into a access keypad, and the large metal door it controlled slid open. The two (or, well, _three_) of them walked inside, the door closing behind them with a thud. Reno figured this was the main control room, judging from the amount of complex looking computers there were. It had a few leafy invaders, though – vines had somehow forced their way through a rusty patch in the wall, spilling over and coiling through several of the control panels, destroying them completely. Tseng clicked his tongue with annoyance and walked over to one of them, sitting down on the surprisingly intact desk chair before it. "Keep watch," he ordered Reno as he somehow powered the computer up and started typing in passwords.

Reno rolled his eyes at his senior's officious tone, and grinned as the kitten/puppy bounded up into Tseng's lap, turned around once, then curled up, falling asleep. Tseng didn't even look at it, he just kept working. Reno rolled his eyes yet again, and went back to looking around. He moved a few steps away, staring into the shadows. "What're we gonna do after this? Run around shooting things?"

"No… I have no intention of exploring this entire place. We could be here for weeks," Tseng replied, actually twisting around so he could see Reno's expression change when he heard the next bit. "You get to blow this place sky high."

He was rewarded with a grin that was equal parts eager insanity and childish delight.

…

Reno's nose was pressed up against the glass of the helicopter window. Next to him was the little kitten/puppy, her paws (for she was a girl) resting on the window sill as she looked in the same direction as Reno, wondering what the redhead was so worked up about. She observed that the human was counting down to something in a breathy whisper and was curious. "_…eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…_"

A huge blast shook the helicopter, and a giant ball of red, orange and gold fire mushroomed into the sky, followed by the inevitable black smoke cloud. Half the forest caught on fire, but Reno didn't notice. He was still in a world of happy explosives. The kitten/puppy curled up beneath the seat and put her paws over her eyes. She wasn't sure she loved the redhead so much anymore.

…

"Reno…" Rufus' voice was at its icy best. "What the hell is this?"

"Not entirely sure, sir," Reno said brightly. "But it's yours, anyway."

Rufus glared at him, then glared at the ball of dark fur curled up in his lap. Reno had just walked in and plunked the thing on him, getting dark fur all over his suit. He did not appreciate it. "I don't want it," he said flatly. "Get rid of it."

Reno gave him a pleading look. "I _can't_, sir. My landlord won't let me keep her and Tseng keeps saying that I should shoot her, so I can't offer her to him. And I can't just dump her." Reno looked… distressed. Rufus was surprised to see him worked up over something so trivial. He hadn't even sworn once yet, which was a definite indication of how serious he was. At the worried look in the other's eyes, he felt his resolve crumbling. It didn't help that the kitten/puppy uncoiled itself from where it had been sitting in his lap and stared up at him with big blue eyes. It batted at his cheek with one very soft paw. "Stop that," Rufus said automatically, pushing the paw away. The little thing was not deterred, though, and she just stood up on her hind legs with her forepaws braced against Rufus' chest for balance and started to lick him on the cheek, purring.

Rufus' frustrated blue eyes met Reno's amused ones in a hard look. "I don't want it," he repeated. "Take it away." Reno actually shook his head. Rufus stared at him, the beginnings of fury in his eyes. Reno flinched, wondering if he had gone to far. He took a few quick steps forward, ending up leaning over Rufus' chair, only about a foot away from him. "Look," he said desperately. "She likes you, okay? And even though you say you don't I know you like her. So could you just let her stay for a while?"

"You sound like you're talking about a human girl," Rufus complained, feeling edgy at Reno's closeness. Reno grinned and Rufus' heart skipped a beat. "_Please_?" Reno wheedled. "You have heaps of servants and whatever at this place. You could just hire somebody to look after her for you. You could afford it. _Please_?" Rufus glared at him, then sighed, defeated.

"I suppose I could have her trained to be a guard dog… cat… whatever…" he muttered. He was completely taken by surprise by Reno's response. "FUCK YEAH!!" the redhead shouted, randomly hugging his quickly, then dashing out the door, yelling thanks over his shoulder. Rufus stared after him, feeling all tingly. He glanced down at the kitten in his lap. "Did you understand that? No? Oh, well." He picked the small cat up and stared at her critically. "I shall call you Dark Nation."

A/N: Well… That felt strangely rushed. Did anyone other than me notice that? Oh well, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Have a cookie. As for the rest of you… STOP BEING SO DAMN LAZY!!!!!!!!!


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_Comfort_

Another target shattered with a particularly savage sound. Rufus reloaded his shotgun. His eyes were calm, his body posture was perfectly straight. Nothing betrayed his extreme rage. He lifted the gun and aimed it at another hapless circle of wood and steel. His fingers slowly curled around the trigger, squeezing it firmly. The gun jumped, another target shattered, and Rufus' anger calmed somewhat as he pictured his father lying on the floor instead, a shotgun shell lodged in his brain. Stupid fucker. He stood a moment, breathing slow even breaths, trying to calm down. The deep breathing approach didn't work so he obliterated another target, imagining his father staggering back, blood as red as his suit pouring from his body to pool on the floor. The blonde gave a chilling smile. _One day_. One day he would kill the bastard.

A careful ten feet behind him, Reno stared with terrified fascination at the change in his boss. Some time ago, Rufus had walked out of a meeting, a nasty expression in his eyes, and..._ stormed_ might be the best word, to the Turk's shooting gallery, curtly gesturing Reno to follow him. He'd been destroying targets for the past hour, not saying a word to Reno, just working off whatever anger it was that consumed him.

Reno froze with horror as Rufus actually missed a shot, only clipping the edge of the wooden ring. The target almost mockingly stayed in one piece and there was a long, _long_ pause during which Reno almost feared for his life, thinking the Rufus might turn and shoot _him_ out of sheer frustration and need to hurt _something_. But suddenly Rufus gave a completely uncharacteristic snarl of rage and _threw_ his heavy shotgun at the target, snapping it off at the base. There was a dull clunk as the crippled target bit the dust, echoed by the louder thunk of Rufus' gun hitting the ground.

Silence. Lots... of... silence. The drawn out, tense sort of silence that makes the air feel thick and heavy, hard to breathe. The kind of silence where your breathing is hideously loud and you try to muffle it for fear it might irritate someone. Reno's hand was halfway to his mouth when Rufus whipped around and smiled with an almost maniacal friendliness.

"Reno?" he said with obviously forced calmness. "You don't have a partner yet, do you?"

Reno shook his head, mute, not quite trusting his voice not to tremble. He'd seen a lot in his life, done a lot, too, but nothing he'd ever seen or done measured up in sheer scariness to Rufus' sudden mood swing. It was as though the anger was bubbling away just below the surface, screaming for a reason to lash out and kill someone. Reno _did not _want to give Rufus an excuse to kill him.

"Be in my office nine o'clock tomorrow morning," Rufus instructed. He smiled, a strange, brittle smile. "You can go home now, if you want."

Reno hesitated. He was tired and he just wanted to go home and crash, but Rufus' dismissal was phrased in a way that seemed as though he was begging Reno to stay. As he stared at Rufus, the moment stretching ever-so-slightly too long, he saw the barest hint of vulnerability seep into the blonde's eyes, a tiny flicker of pain, of exhaustion. That decided him.

"I'll stay, sir," he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably and shuffling his feet a little as he stared at the floor. If there was anyone who could make Reno feel off-balance, it was Rufus. He swallowed and lifted his gaze to meet Rufus' inquiring ice blue gaze. "...If that's okay..." Rufus nodded, just slightly, a tiny hint of a smile touching his lips.

"Thank you."

The silence stretched on again, neither knowing what to say. Reno broke it hesitantly. "Um... But sir...?" Rufus lifted an eyebrow, silently encouraging him to continue. "You... look tired..." Reno said quietly. He wasn't sure if he was pushing his luck too far with what he was saying and he was kind of nervous, not wanting Rufus to go retrieve his gun and put a bullet in him out of sheer anger. He'd looked like he'd wished the targets were human a little while ago. "Shouldn't you get some sleep? Or just relax or _something_."

Rufus stared at him for a moment, his face shocked, and then he gave a short bark of laughter. "I suppose so..." he muttered, tearing his eyes away from the skinny redhead's worried face. He lifted one hand and rubbed his suddenly sand-gritty eyes. "I haven't been sleeping well lately," he admitted suddenly. Reno moved closer and gingerly touched Rufus' shoulder in an instinctive, sympathetic gesture. Rufus' head whipped around and he met Reno's eyes in a startled look. _No one_ dared touch him... The contact was strange, but in his exhausted state, it felt kind of good, warm, comforting. He shifted his shoulder, leaning into the warmth of Reno's hand. He was so fucking tired. No sleep last night, and maybe half an hour or so at his desk the night before (he'd had paperwork to finish and hadn't gone to bed). His body couldn't take much more of this.

Reno moved his hand away from Rufus' shoulder and tugged slightly on his sleeve. "You need to sleep," he said in a low voice. Rufus gave him an exhausted glare. "I _can't_," he hissed, anger finally kicking in. "If I could, I wouldn't _be_ in this state!" Reno didn't flinch at the fire in Rufus' normally icy eyes, just tugged at his sleeve again.

"Giving it another try wouldn't hurt, would it?" he said and offered a smile. Rufus sighed.

"Very well," he said, managing to regain some small shreds of dignity and poise. He tugged his sleeve out of Reno's grip and turned. His back to Reno, he spoke, the command back in his voice, overlaying the exhaustion. "Go get my gun, Reno, and then we'll go." He stalked to the door as Reno saluted mockingly, a smirk back on his face.

"Yes, sir."

Rufus' apartment was huge. Reno stared around in pure shock, taking in the expensive furnishings, the thick carpet, everything. The room practically screamed 'money'. It was all abstract, white with accents of black. Small details caught Reno's eye: the black velvet cushions tossed on the low white leather couch set before a plasma TV set in one wall; a strange painting framed on one wall, black and white shapes twisted in a geometrical pattern inside a black metal frame; the way the door frames were all painted dull black even though the doors themselves were all white.

"Shit," he said flatly, glancing at Rufus. "You actually live here?" His disbelief was very obvious in his voice.

Rufus half smiled. "Yes," he replied as he bent over and started to unlace his heavy brown boots. "Take your shoes off – white carpet is apparently hell to clean and I don't want to housekeeper screaming at me again."

Reno laughed. "The housekeeper dared yell at _you_? The President's son?"

"She yells at everyone," Rufus said wryly. "Including my father, just about all his executives and especially Tseng when he shoots someone standing next to me and she has to wash the blood out of one of my suits. She fears no one and nothing, except possibly mud." Reno laughed again, an almost wild sound and kicked his boots off, dumping them next to the door. Rufus glanced at him, and saw aquamarine eyes dancing with amusement, a wicked grin twisting pink lips. He looked away quickly and walked further into his apartment, carrying his boots in one hand, moving quietly into his bedroom and placing the boots in his wardrobe. He shed his suit jacket and waistcoat, standing in just his white slack and the black turtleneck.

He stood there in his room a moment, getting used to the idea of someone else in his apartment, his _space_. He had never invited anyone in there before, and it felt kind of strange to have another human being walking around in the rooms not even his father had been in. "Um, Rufus?" He jumped violently as Reno spoke a few feet behind him and whipped around so fast he nearly fell over. Reno reached out immediately and steadied him, catching his wrists in a gentle but firm grip. Along moment passed and then Rufus' cheeks reddened in a combination of anger and embarrassment at being caught offguard. "Don't you fucking dare ever sneak up on me like that again!" he snarled, tugging his wrists free and rubbing them to try and still the tingling feeling that was jumping through them. He felt strange.

Reno flushed too. "Sorry," he said, totally lost. Why the hell was Rufus so angry? And why hadn't he heard him walk up? It wasn't as though he'd been trying to scare him. Suddenly the energy seemed to leave Rufus' body and he slumped. "It's alright," he muttered. His stomach growled and he glared at it. Reno laughed quietly.

"Is there any food in here?" he asked. Rufus nodded and walked straight past him, heading for the kitchen. Reno hovered indecisively in the doorway of Rufus' bedroom, not sure what he was doing. To his surprise, Rufus came out of the kitchen with a bag of chips and headed for the sofa in front of the TV. "There should be some movie on," he offered by way of explanation, dropping the bag on the table in front of the sofa and fiddling with remotes. As the TV switched on and the lights dimmed, Reno moved slowly across the thick carpet and sat gingerly next to Rufus.

Eventually Rufus found some loud, senselessly violent movie and Reno forgot to be nervous. He laughed evilly as the hero got his head kicked in by a motorbike gang and earned several amused looks from Rufus. He barely noticed when a slight weight pressed against his side, just shifted slightly to one side, bracing himself better and watching the gun fight on the screen, blue-green eyes sparkling in the dim light.

It was only at the end of the movie that he noticed that Rufus had fallen asleep at his side, his body leaning on Reno's and his head on the others' shoulder. Reno stared at him for a few moments, in total shock. He suddenly realised why he'd been feeling so weird about Rufus all evening. He was acting like a normal human being, and to Reno, who'd only ever seen Rufus act normal for short moments at a time, that was really, _really_ weird. And now he'd fallen asleep on Reno's shoulder.

Reno wondered if this evening could get any stranger as he gently wrapped an arm around Rufus' back, slowly standing up and picking the smaller teenager up, bridal style. He couldn't hold back a small snicker at the thought of how mad Rufus would be if he was awake to see how he was being carried around. But then, if he was awake, then Reno wouldn't have to carry him.

He carefully tucked Rufus into his utterly enormous bed, tugging the covers up around the blonde's shoulders. Rufus rolled over in his sleep, moving onto his side, one hand curled up on the pillow near his face. He just looked so very... _adorable_, with his golden hair and the dark shadows under his eyes and that calm, almost peaceful expression, for once.

Reno couldn't really help what happened next.

He leant down and lightly brushed his lips across Rufus' cheek. "Sweet dreams, boss..."

Rufus slept right through the night for the first time in months and woke the next morning with a small, inexplicable smile on his face.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I am so very, very sorry. I really didn't mean for it to take this long. I had life issues and writer's block and stuff. But here's the next chapter. The really _short_ next chapter. It's pathetic really. I go away forever and then I come back with this. Oh well. Oh, and this chapter introduces Rude, even if he doesn't say anything...

Chapter Six

_Partner_

Reno found it very hard not to stare the next morning as he walked into Rufus' office. For a second he wondered if he was dreaming, and then he realized that even _he_ lacked the imagination to come up with something quite this illogical. For a start, Tseng was standing behind Rufus' desk and had what appeared to be a broken nose. There was a large, black skinhead wearing mirrored sunglasses standing next to him, expression totally impassive. And Rufus was smiling.

Reno searched for something to say and fell back on his usual method of polite inquiry. "What the fuck?"

"Tseng has a broken nose," said Rufus, cheerfully stating the obvious. He gestured at the skinhead. "This is Rude. He will be your partner. I did tell you that you would be assigned one."

Reno processed this. "O-kay," he said finally. "But what happened to you?" Was Rufus smiling because of what happened last night? But, but he'd been asleep when Reno kissed him, right? And it wasn't like he'd meant anything much by that kiss, right? It'd just been sympathetic, a comfort thing... right? It had had nothing to do with the fact that Rufus had been looking utterly beautiful.

The smile disappeared then, and Rufus gave him a cold look that wasn't quite as convincing as earlier ones had been. "I don't know what you're talking about, Reno."

"You were smiling."

"So? To the best of my knowledge, I'm allowed. Was there anything else?"

Reno bit his lip, wondering how far he could push his luck. Deciding to take a risk, he said, "Yeah... How did Tseng break his nose?"

Rufus' lips twitched as he fought down another smile. His voice was laced with amusement as he made his reply. "Ask him yourself," he murmured, locking his eyes Reno's face. He wanted a good view of the redhead's reaction when he got the answer.

"Huh? How _did _you break it, Dothead?" Rufus had to fight another grin at Reno's dismissive new nickname for Tseng. That was Reno, alright – just when you though he couldn't get any _more _insubordinate, he went and surprised you.

"Stop calling me that, Reno," Tseng said flatly. "And I... walked... into a door frame..."

"WHAT?" Rufus was rewarded with the image of Reno's face in shades of confusion, shock, incredulity and extreme amusement. Reno collapsed into hysterical laughter as Tseng glared at him through raccoon-like eyes.

Rufus started to smile again.

Reno was beginning to wonder if his new partner was human. He hadn't spoken at all to Reno since they had left Rufus' office. Tseng had led the two of them through the building to Turk headquarters, stopping in front off a plain wooden door. He paused a moment, took a deep breath, and then opened the door. A soft wave of quickly stifled laughter hit the three men as the many occupants of the large room looked up and caught sight of Tseng's face. Reno didn't bother to smother his snickers. He laughed openly as he followed an incredibly pissed off looking Tseng across what looked like a common room for Shinra intelligence officers. "So..." he said, grinning evilly. "...How _did_ you manage to break your nose walking into a door frame? You gotta admit it, boss, that takes some doing. Door frames are pretty obvious..." The quiet snickering rose slightly in volume.

Tseng did not reply. Reaching a door on the other side of the room, he opened it and shoved Reno inside. "Your office," he said in the chilly kind of tone Reno would normally expect from Rufus. He pointed at a steel desk on one side of the tiny room. "Your desk." There was a stack of paper on the desk. Tseng grinned. "Your paperwork. I want it finished by the end of the day, Reno."

Reno froze, staring at the stack. "But... But I'm seventeen! I can barely fucking _spell_! Come _on_, Dothead..."

But Tseng was already gone, closing the door behind him and leaving Reno alone with his paperwork and his scary new partner.

Reno stared at the page in complete horror. It was some ridiculous form where he was supposed to write down the exact details of how he had foiled the attempts of a random terrorist group to take Rufus hostage last week. What the fuck was he _supposed_ to write?He'd just zapped a few people and then Rufus had shot the ringleader in the head with his shotgun. Simple. Why did he have to write out a fucking _book_ about it?

At the other desk, Rude was working his way steadily through his own, much smaller pile of paper. Reno glared at him for a moment then stalked over to the door and wrenched it open. "Oi, Dothead."

Tseng turned around with a sigh, breaking off his conversation with two other Shinra executives. "What is it, Reno?" It would seem he'd resigned himself to the nickname. "Why the hell doesn't _he_ have as much of this shit as me?"

"Because he's new. Because he doesn't annoy people as much as you. Because he doesn't attempt to kill anyone who looks at him the wrong way."

"So this shit is just some fucked-up way to try and get me to mind my manners?"

"Essentially, yes."

Reno went back into his office and threw his paperwork out the window.

Rufus closed his eyes and sighed with frustration. "Alright, let him in." The secretary scuttled away and a moment later Reno walked in looking mutinous. He couldn't quite meet Rufus' eyes, however, choosing instead to examine the carpet. Rufus stared at him, trying to figure out which one of the plethora of questions queuing in his brain he should start with. Finally he settled on the one that seemed to cover most of the main points. "Why?"

The redhead made an irritated noise. "Because it was pissing me off. Why the hell should I have to write out all that shit when all my job is is to keep you from bein' killed or something? Besides, no one can even _read_ my fucking handwriting. _I_ can't even read it. And I can't spell."

Rufus shoved a pen and a piece of paper at Reno. "Write something." There was a quick sound of scratching as Reno scribbled something and then silence. Reno carefully replaced the pen on the desk. Both teenagers stared at the piece of paper. It looked like a two year olds first drawing. "What does it say?" Rufus said eventually.

"It's supposed to say 'I fucking hate paperwork' but I can't actually tell..."

There was more silence.

"What's that?" Rufus asked, pointing at one looped part of the word.

"It's a P. I think." Even Reno seemed awed at the sheer incomprehensibility of his writing. (And I _never_ want to see Reno try to write incomprehensibility. His spelling is even worse than his writing.)

Rufus stared at the scribble some more, his eyes distant as he worked out what to do. Reno just waited. "Alright," Rufus muttered finally. "Here's what you'll do. When you get reports from Heidegger, Scarlet, Tseng or my bastard _father_ then just write whatever you want. No one will be able to read it anyway. When they come to ask you what the hell it is you've written, be very polite and report verbally. _Please_ keep swearing to a minimum... Now, if I send you something... Just fill it out as well as you can, and we'll go over it when you have you're next shift guarding me. Okay?"

"Thanks, sir," Reno said, a genuine grin on his face. Rufus ignored the sudden, inexplicable acceleration of his heart rate at the sight. "You're welcome. No go away. I have my own mountain of this crap to deal with."

Tseng never realized it, but the very next form he got back from Reno said "Tseng is a fuckwit" over and over and over...


	8. Chapter 7

WARNING!: This chapter contains boys kissing (yes, they finally kiss, sorry for the spoiler). If you don't like that idea, then leave this story. Although really, if you don't like boys kissing, then how the hell did you get this far into the damn thing anyway?

As always, please READ & REVIEW, people. It makes me happy.

And extreme thankies to lovemaykill for giving me fanart, and making me get off my lazy ass and write another chapter... all for the promise of _more_ fanart.

Chapter Seven

_Growing Up_

Time passed, as time normally does, and Reno grew three inches taller. He helped save Rufus from assorted murder plots and kidnappings, got a pay rise, was very happy about said pay rise and exchanged maybe four words per day with his partner.

He also met Amber.

Amber was a secretary. Tall, leggy, blonde and incredibly flirtatious, Amber made it well known that she had a soft spot for the newest Turk. Reno took one look at Amber sauntering into work in a black leather mini and made a new best friend.

Rufus hated her, as was to be expected. After all, she distracted Reno from his work, and thanks to her, he was coming in late six days out of seven, an extremely stupid grin on his face. He told himself that those were his reasons, his only reasons, determinedly ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that told him the real reason for his hatred of Amber was that Reno had barely any time to talk to him anymore. Reno had been the first friend he'd ever made, and now he seemed to be moving on. It hurt. A lot. But not quite as much as the thought that Amber was sharing Reno's bed, while he could not.

What Reno wasn't going to share was that with her blue eyes, blonde hair and sweet smile, Amber looked like a more approachable, female version of the boss Reno had hoped she'd get him over. But his stupid crush on Rufus lived on, determinedly pointing out how nice Rufus' hair looked this morning with the golden sunlight glancing off of it as he climbed out of his car. He also couldn't help noticing that Rufus had that haunted, exhausted look back in his eyes. Wasn't he sleeping any more? Evidently not... The guilt pricked at him relentlessly every time Rufus' dead eyes flickered over him flirting with Amber on his break, every time he walked past the two of them stealing a quick kiss during their break.

It was around this time that Reno started to hang around bars, forcing himself to get legless so as to block out the guilt, the desperation to just grab Rufus and apologize, kiss him over and over and till everything was better again. But he could never do that. Sometimes he hated Amber.

He was drunk when Rude walked into the squalid little bar he'd hidden himself away in, and told him quietly that Amber had been kidnapped. Reno barely understood him at first. His head was swimming in that pleasant way that could turn nasty at any moment, and _hey_, this was, like, the most Rude had ever said to him, ever, eh!? _Weird_. But wait, _what_? Amber? He lurched out of the bar, leaning on Rude for support. Shit, shit, shit! If she was killed, who'd he have to help deal with his crush on Rufus?

They wouldn't let him go on the rescue mission, of course. He could barely stand, let alone swing an EMR without falling over. He knew he wasn't imagining the disgust in Tseng's eyes, and for a brief moment, he felt sick with himself. Then he just felt sick. He spent ten minutes throwing up after Tseng and Rude left with a bunch of Shinra soldiers. After five or six cups of coffee, he started to feel slightly more sober.

Which was just as well, because Rufus walked in then. Ice blue eyes swept over his huddled figure, the coffee mug held in desperately shaking fingers. Rufus only hesitated a moment before dragging Reno to his feet and into the elevator. He wrapped his arms gently around the shivering Turk, trying to warm him up. "I'm sorry, Reno," he whispered, not even sure what he was apologizing for, but knowing the words were necessary all the same. Reno burrowed his head into Rufus's shoulder. "Shouldn't it be me sayin' that?" he muttered in reply, shivers of an entirely different kind racking his body at the feel of Rufus' arms around him. He squirmed closer, praying that no one else would enter the damn elevator. But it was after three, and most of Shinra had gone home. Reno was suddenly horrified. No matter how bad the day had been, at the end of it, Reno could always escape to his little flat, and forget about what he'd done that day. Rufus lived here. There was absolutely no escape for him.

Reno lifted his arms and wrapped them around the blonde in return, raising his head and snuggling as close as humanly possible. He heard Rufus give a little gasp, then he copied Reno's motions, snuggling closer, clinging on to Reno for dear life. He didn't think he'd actually been hugged since his mother died when he was five. He shuddered, pushing away the memory of red blood streaked through spun gold hair, a crumpled body and, oh, gods, Mama, get up! Please! Don't leave me here... alone...

Twisting his fingers through hair as red as his mother's blood, Rufus rested his cheek on Reno's shoulder, the bridge of his nose just touching the other's neck. Reno tilted his head to look down at him, startled. Rufus had a strange, distant expression on his face, pained, bitter, locked up in memories it didn't look like he wanted to remember. Reno hugged him closer, wishing he knew how to chase the memories away. Maybe if he could, Rufus would smile more often...

The two boys stumbled into Rufus' apartment, hands clinging desperately to each other. The door closed with a quick click and the wrath of the housekeeper would definitely be upon them, because they didn't even think to spend precious moments taking their shoes off before they collapsed on Rufus' bed. Neither intended to do anything, just hold one another until the shuddering faded, the memories went away. The last time Reno had seen anyone looking as worried and lost as Rufus,when he was in the foster home, and he'd been looking in the mirror. But... he didn't want to remember the foster home. Not ever. At least not until he got around to going back and burning it to the ground, hopefully with the carers still inside. Gods... Mr Gunnersun and his wandering fingers... Reno's body shivered convulsively, making Rufus clutch him closer, breathing harsh in his ear, searching for something to say that would make it feel better. But his brain was still, all his control and restraint gone as he just clung to the slender, hard muscled body lying half on top of him, threading his fingers over and over through blood red strands, trying so hard not to remember... He realised with horror that his eyes were wet.

Reno felt Rufus' tears against his neck, and propped himself up on one elbow, brushing his fingers across Rufus' eyes with surprising care. His fingers slowly drifted from the closed eyes down to caress Rufus' cheek, sliding the ball of his thumb across the soft lower lip. The motion was entirely innocent. He just wanted to know what it felt like, the silky smoothness of Rufus' skin sliding gently beneath his fingers was amazing. He'd never been allowed this close, and he doubted anyone else had either. It was a heady feeling, to know he was the first to be let this near.

The blonde shivered one last time, then lay still, his face relaxing, all the tension fading from his body. He didn't have to think... didn't have to remember anything... just focus on the feel of Reno's slightly callused fingers running over his face, curious, and so, so gentle. No one had ever been this careful with him before, not even the half forgotten mother. She'd always been distracted, shouting at his father, or talking on the phone to her friends. Even her embraces were different to the one with Reno. It had always felt like she was just doing her duty as a mother when she wrapped her arms around him, and often she'd still be snarling at his father over his shoulder.

Reno... He was being so careful. For once, Rufus held someone's attention entirely, and he loved it. He shifted slightly, opening eyes as blue as the winter sky to stare up at the redhead. He could taste the beer on Reno's breath, smell the slight hint of sweat that clung to him, as well as the aroma of blood and death that always seemed to follow Reno. For a second, he was afraid, the memory of blood in golden strands returning to him, then he smiled, slowly, sweetly. Reno killed _for_ him. He'd never do anything to hurt him. But... Amber. A slight frown puckered the golden brows, wrinkling the smooth skin between them.

"Amber...?" he whispered, feeling as drunk as Reno had been, hazy, unable to focus on anything entirely, except for the soft feel of Reno's fingers tracing the contours of his face. But he still wanted to know. How could Reno be sleeping with Amber, know she was missing and probably dead, and still touch him so gently? It wasn't fair.

Reno drew in a shaky breath, his fingers stilling on Rufus' face. "I... don't know. She doesn't really mean anything. She was... just to forget. But I don't want her to die because I was using her." His words feel heavily into the still between them, making Reno wish he could just stuff them back into his mouth and run out the door, probably screaming in horror. What was it about Rufus that made it impossible for Reno to lie to him? It just wasn't fair. At all.

Rufus' frown deepened. Reno had stopped tracing his face, and he could think more clearly now... even if he was craving Reno to start again. "What did you want to forget?" he asked quietly. Somehow, neither of them could talk above a murmur. Everything felt delicate, fragile, and this atmosphere, the intimacy could all come tumbling down with perfect ease. They had to be careful.

Reno couldn't meet his eyes. Bluey-green orbs were instead drawn to the pillow beside Rufus's head, where part of his blood-red ponytail had fallen over strands of now-disheveled golden hair. It looking so perfect there, red and gold against the pure white of the pillow and Reno felt a stab of longing. He wanted to stay here, maybe forever, just quiet with Rufus, breathing the same air as him, feeling the warmth of his body beneath Reno's. A faint flush touched his face at that thought. It was the beer's fault. The beer was making him think like this. But coffee and tension had done its work, and while he was far from sober, the beer wasn't that much of an influence anymore.

Rufus tugged lightly on the handful of red hair he had in his grasp, drawing Reno's attention back to him. "What did you want to forget?" he repeated, locking eyes with him. He saw the flicker of indecision, of longing in the Mako-tinted depths, and the breath caught in his lungs. So... he felt it too. And now Rufus actually felt seventeen, felt curious, unsure and desperate. He wanted to find a way to end this tension, to regain control of the situation. But he had nothing, no balance, no power here. He was totally out of his depth, trying to learn how to swim with concrete blocks on his feet. It was all up to Reno.

Reno wasn't sure. He wanted to kiss him, so, _so_ bad, but Rufus was just lying there, staring up at him with an unreadable expression on his face. It was strange, they were the same age, but they were so far apart in terms of thinking and experience that neither ever really knew what to expect. "Reno?" Rufus murmured in a husky whisper, blue eyes flickering down to his mouth then back up to his eyes again. "What are we going to --"

Reno lost what little control he'd had to begin with, and kissed him. His lips were so soft beneath his, and those pale, elegant hands clenched in his hair, sending spikes of pain down his scalp as he gently moved his hands to shift Rufus' head slightly, tracing the blonde's lower lip with his tongue, smiling slightly as he heard a soft moan catch in Rufus' throat. He bit gently at Rufus' lip, silently asking for him to open his mouth. Rufus, of course, had no idea what he meant, so Reno slipped his finger under three layers of clothing to brush over his lower stomach. Rufus gasped sharply, and Reno slipped his tongue into the other's mouth.

It shouldn't have felt so good, considering how Reno still tasted of beer... But he'd always expected Reno's kisses to be sharp, savage and over quickly, there one minute and gone the next. He'd never thought that Reno could make him ache with longing as his tongue slid slowly over his, exploring his mouth with the same care as his fingers had on his face. Beer should not taste so sweet.

Reno lifted his mouth from Rufus', and expected Rufus to scream at him, hit hit, order him out of his apartment and out of his life. Instead, Rufus pulled his head back down for another kiss. Long minutes passed, neither of them feeling anything but the feel of their mouths against one another, soft hair trickling through gentle fingers, and Reno's body pushing Rufus back into the mattress. Finally, everything slowed down, and they just lay there, Reno's head on Rufus's chest as he ran the fingers of one hand through his hair. The other hand was intertwined with one of Reno's.

Reno was the first to speak. "Why are you so obsessed with my hair?" he mumbled. Not the best question in the world, but focusing on anything larger than those gentle fingers was currently impossible. He felt numb, hazy. Happiness would catch up soon, along with it terror.

Rufus gave the question all due consideration. "Because it's pretty," he said finally, the most mundane answer he'd given in over a decade. "And it feels good. Do you want me to stop?"

"No."

They lay there for what seemed like hours, silent, fingers threading through red hair over and over, lulling reno to the edge of sleep, until Reno's cellphone rang and Tseng regretfully told him that they'd found Amber's body beneath a bridge, raped, with her throat slit.

For the second time, Rufus held Reno as he cried. But his tears weren't really for Amber, as monstrous as that was, but because that moment of silence with Rufus had been perfect, and now it was gone.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Sleeping by Rain

Rufus had always liked the rain. It cleared his mind, helped him relax and think properly. The flash of lightening and the echoing boom of thunder sent his heart racing chasing away the normal chill that surrounded him. But while the storm outside was welcomed on the merits of clear thinking alone, he had no need to be warmed at present... Reno's body was managing that all on it's own.

What was he going to do? Over the months of frustrated longing for the redhead to acknowledge him, he'd never once considered what would happen if what he wished for actually came to pass. And now, in a heady rush of passion, the bottled up sea of misery and helpless attraction had been released, crashing through the dams and spreading out in a deep, tranquil and utterly terrifying wave. And Rufus couldn't ignore it anymore.

Easing his body out from under the slumber redhead, Rufus wandered out of the bedroom and over to the large plate glass window that stretched across the living room wall. He slumped down on the floor below it, delicately pressing his cheek to the cool, rain streaked glass and closing his eyes. What now? For the first time in his life, the blonde had run into something he couldn't fully deal with. Not on his own, anyway. Luckily he wouldn't have to.

Muffled by the carpets, he didn't know of Reno's presence until warm arms wound gently around his slender body, dragging him back against and equally slender frame. Normally he would have shoved the other away, but he trusted his bodyguard by now and the touch, while hesitant and ready to pull away at the slightest flinch, still held enough of the warmth and confidence of earlier on that Rufus just relaxed, leaning back against the lanky redhead with a gentle sigh. For the first time in years, possibly for the first time ever, he felt safe. And a thin line of water mirrored the droplets on the glass outside, tracing its way down alabaster flesh, to drip and darken white cloth.

A soft chuckle rumbled in Reno's chest. Although the sound barely made it out into the atmosphere, Rufus could feel the vibration of it against his back. He never knew that being close to someone could feel like this. "So much for 'never bleeds, never cries'..." Reno murmured, brushing slender fingers over his cheek and collecting the last of the moisture. He surveyed his damp fingers for a moment, then curiously licked them, tasting salt and helpless beauty and Rufus. One could easily get addicted to that taste. And did his skin taste the same as his tears? Reno wondered if Rufus would kill him if he licked his cheek or something to find out.

Rufus opened his eyes before Reno had made a decision on whether or not he wanted to risk Rufus' wrath, and frowned half-heartedly at the redhead, who still, incidentally, had his fingers in his mouth, an adorably confused expression on his face (he had to fight hard not to smile at the sight). "I don't like letting people see me cry," he murmured, casting his eyes away from the strangely touching image of Reno with his fingers in his mouth. "So consider yourself..." He paused, searching for a word that didn't make him sound too much like an arrogant bastard.

"Honored?" Reno supplied for him in an odd tone. "Trust me, I am." There was no irony in his voice, and it was obvious that he meant what he was saying. Suddenly moving from his seat on the floor next to Rufus, he walked back into the bedroom, emerging with the feather-stuffed comforter from the bed, which he calmly dumped right over Rufus' head.

"Reno? What the hell are you doing?" Rufus demanded in a slightly muffled voice, warring with the awkward folds of the blanket. He heard a soft thump as pillows were dropped nearby and then Reno was removing the feather comforter from his boss' head and spreading it out over the floor next to the window. "Well, you like the rain, yo... So I figured we could sleep out here tonight. That okay?"

Rufus felt a lump rising in his throat, and looked away, as the redhead calmly arranged pillows and quilt, creating a rather comfy makeshift bed. "It's... fine." He seized on a random bit of information, forcing his mind away from thoughts of how kind Reno was being, how... unReno-ish. "Yo? Since when do you say that?"

Reno flushed. "It's... kind of Amber's fault," he muttered, his voice catching on his dead ex-girlfriend's name. He sat back on the quilt-bed and occupied himself with taking his boots off until he felt like talking again. "She says -- said -- it all the... time. And it's kinda contagious. I can try and stop, if ya want me to."

Rufus reached out hesitantly, and traced his fingers over on of the symmetrical scars beneath Reno's eyes. He'd learned a few months ago that the idiot had gone out and had red ink put into the scars when they were still fresh wounds, courting blood poisoning so as to put a permanent reminder of... something on his his face to be seen everyday. Rufus would have to ask him why he did it, now that they seemed to be... closer.

He shook his head. "It's fine." A sudden, sly smile crossed his face, and he turned his eyes away, almost flirtatiously, as a matter of fact. Watching him, Reno felt a brief stab of apprehension -- what the hell was he up to? Rufus climbed to his feet with easy elegance, and slid his hopelessly crumpled jacket off, tossing it over the arm of the couch. "It's kind of cute, actually," he said over his shoulder, fingers pulling apart the buttons of his waistcoat. The sly smirk widened, then disappeared abruptly as an arm coiled tightly around his waist, pulling his back against the lean length of Reno's body. "Cute?!" Reno demanded indignantly in his ear. "Me? Cute?!"

Rufus laughed, actually laughed, and Reno lost all interest in being called cute, and watched with fascination the glacial eyes warm and slide closed and the golden head tilting back against his shoulder. He could feel the muscles of Rufus' body relaxing, and shivered, stabbed with a wave of longing. Dear gods, he was beautiful... Reno couldn't help but say it.

"You're gorgeous, yo," he muttered, unconsciously adding the invasive syllable to the end of the sentence once again. Blue eyes opened abruptly, and the body went tense again, and Reno could have kicked himself. He let go of Rufus and stepped away, turning to conceal his blush, and removing his suit jacket so as to occupy his suddenly rebellious hands, who wanted to reach out and touch the other boy, trace the contours of his bewildered expression and somehow turn that frown into a smile.

"Sorry..."

And this time, it was Rufus who reached out, tugging lightly at his sleeve and turning the other to face him. "For what?" he demanded, a sweet, tentative smile touching his ordinarily cold face and sending an immediate rush of blood to Reno's cheeks. The fuck? Since when did Reno of all people blush? Hello... "I can think of few people who don't like... being paid compliments," Rufus continued, "especially when it's from one who can be said to be giving a professional opinion."

And what the hell did that mean, please? It took Reno a few seconds to puzzle it out, but the conclusion he came to was the Rufus was saying he was gorgeous as well. Which, of course, made the dear little redhead very happy. He loved compliments. A smile to match Rufus' touched his face as well.

And then Rufus kissed him, and he stopped thinking at all.


End file.
